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Hue selectivity from recurrent circuitry in Drosophila.

Matthias P ChristensonAlvaro Sanz DiezSarah L HeathMaia Saavedra-WeisenhausAtsuko AdachiAljoscha NernL F AbbottRudy Behnia
Published in: Nature neuroscience (2024)
In the perception of color, wavelengths of light reflected off objects are transformed into the derived quantities of brightness, saturation and hue. Neurons responding selectively to hue have been reported in primate cortex, but it is unknown how their narrow tuning in color space is produced by upstream circuit mechanisms. We report the discovery of neurons in the Drosophila optic lobe with hue-selective properties, which enables circuit-level analysis of color processing. From our analysis of an electron microscopy volume of a whole Drosophila brain, we construct a connectomics-constrained circuit model that accounts for this hue selectivity. Our model predicts that recurrent connections in the circuit are critical for generating hue selectivity. Experiments using genetic manipulations to perturb recurrence in adult flies confirm this prediction. Our findings reveal a circuit basis for hue selectivity in color vision.
Keyphrases
  • electron microscopy
  • structural basis
  • white matter
  • gene expression
  • spinal cord injury
  • single cell
  • dna methylation
  • functional connectivity
  • high throughput
  • optical coherence tomography